It seems that Team Green is getting back into grown-up playbikes, with documents indicating we’ll soon see a new KLX230.
The news comes as the California Air Resource Board files documents for a new Kawasaki trail bike, with a 233 cc engine. Presumably, it’s called the KLX230, or at least that’s what Motorcycle.com thinks—they’re the ones who dug up the news.
What will you get with the KLX230? Supposedly, a 20-hp dirt bike with EFI, presumably aimed at the so-called “wife and girlfriend market.” While 230-class bikes are plenty of fun (look at the long run of the Yamaha and Honda equivalents), many hairy-chested males scorn these bikes, thinking their testosterone makes them require 250 cc, at a minimum, in a high-output, high-maintenance engine. Errrr, right. While most of that boils down to posturing, the truth is that the 230-class bikes do tend to have softer suspension, which may not suit larger riders. Aside from that, well—go for a woods ride with a good rider on a bad bike, and you’ll quickly realize it’s not the engine that holds most motorcyclists back when they’re off-roading.
Aside from those figures and conjectures, all other details are a mystery. However, it is indeed interesting to see Honda updating its trail bike lineup with EFI, and now Kawasaki showing interest in the plain-Jane dirtbike market.
“go for a woods ride with a good rider on a bad bike, and you’ll quickly realize it’s not the engine that holds most motorcyclists back when they’re off-roading.” You’re right. It’s the suspension and the physical condition of the rider.
It’s not the bike Donny, it’s the rider.